Shopping mall phenomenon opens 11 new East Coast stores.

Five Below, the leading retailer of extreme value merchandise to the teen and pre-teen market, announced the opening of 11 new stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia, growing the total number of Five Below locations to 47 in suburban communities throughout the New Jersey-to-Virginia corridor.

Five Below has created a new 'extreme value' retail concept that's attracting families and energizing foot traffic at suburban shopping centers all along the East Coast.

Establishing a formula that gives shoppers a wide variety of trendy merchandise, all priced at $5 or less, Five Below's products include sports and exercise items, fashion accessories, jewelry, electronic accessories and much more.

Thanks in part to a recent $20 million equity commitment from LLR Partners, a leading private equity firm based in Philadelphia, PA, Five Below is quickly becoming a retailing phenomenon in the specialty discount retail market.

Stores average 100,000 shopping trips a year, appealing to the $42 billion market for children, pre-teens, and teens with allowance cash to spend. Five Below was founded in 2002 by David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios, the retailing masterminds that created and grew Zany Brainy into the 200-store, $400 million success story that was eventually sold to FAO Inc.

"At Five Below, teens, pre-teens, and families get the hottest, trendiest merchandise for five bucks or less," says David Schlessinger, co-founder of Five Below. "Girls and boys alike find our pioneering retail concept irresistible, because we offer multiple product categories at affordable price points, in a modern, colorful setting. And our stores fit just as well in malls, next to other upscale retailers, as they do in power centers or grocery-anchored shopping centers."

The Five Below locations opening this week in New Jersey include Plaza 42, Turnersville, Deptford Crossing, Rockaway Town Plaza, South Plainfield Hadley Center II and Monmouth Consumer Square, West Long Branch.